Canadian investment company CULT Food Science Corp. announces it has completed a strategic investment in Jellatech Inc., the world’s first cell-based collagen and gelatin ingredient company. Jellatech also counts Ryan Bethencourt’s Sustainable Food Ventures as a prominent investor.
Jellatech, founded in 2020 by Stephanie Michelsen, who has been included on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for 2022, closed a $2 million pre-seed fundraise last April. Stephanie’s sister Nikita is also operating in the cultivated arena, having recently launched new startup Pearlita, with a new research lab in Raleigh, NC to grow oysters from cellular agriculture.
Impressive portfolio
CULT has made several key investments in animal-free companies over the past six months, including cell-cultured meat company Novel Farms last August; into Biftek, producer of a novel culture medium supplement also in August; into plant-based wagyu steak producer Ohayo Valley in October; into 3D Bio-Tissues Ltd in November; and most recently into Singapore’s Umami Meat.
Jellatech leverages a proprietary cellular agriculture process as a novel method to manufacture sustainable, high-quality substitutes for collagen and gelatin. In addition to food-based applications, Jellatech is also exploring the use of animal-free collagen and gelatin in areas including but not limited to cosmetics, personal care and medication.
Stephanie Michelsen states today: “We are very excited to welcome CULT Food Science onboard and to have their support as we continue to scale and grow. We will work together to explore potential synergies between our scientific teams and other possible collaborations. This is an enormously exciting time for us at Jellatech and we are proud to have a new partner in CULT Food Science who believes in our mission to make animal-free collagen a reality,”
Lejjy Gafour, President of CULT, added, “We are pleased to make a strategic investment into Jellatech, as there is a large need for vegan, animal-free collagen currently going unmet.
“As Jellatech’s alternatives to collagen and gelatin are not derived from animals, substantially similar versions of certain food products normally containing these ingredients, such as marshmallows and broth, could also be made for people who cannot consume the traditional version of these products for dietary, religious or other reasons. We are incredibly excited about our strategic funding of Jellatech and we see enormous opportunities in the commercialization of animal-free collagen and gelatin globally,” adds Gafour.